The Mi-Pod – Is it worth the hype?

Today we’re dipping into another hardware review with the very popular Mi-Pod kit. The Mi-Pod is a refillable pod system made by US based ‘Smoking Vapor’, who also designed the Mi-One kit last year. This Mi-Pod was supplied to EjuiceReview by popular UK vape vendor; Ecigarette Direct. They have 20 stores based in the UK and a very well stocked competitively-priced website for mail orders. They established in 2008, being one of the first vape companies in England and they also run a very popular vaping blog entitled ‘Ashtray Blog‘.

This Mi-pod is in gold colour, other colours are available at Ecigarette Drect. I’ve been running this ragged daily since it was received at the start of May, so it’s had a good 3 weeks of testing with a few different juices. So let’s crack on and see if it’s worth all the hype….

The Mi-pod kit is supplied in a neat little white outer and inner cardboard box. The picture of the unit in it’s colour is on the top of the outer box, along with the title in a nice font. The usual TPD nicotine warnings also printed, stating that it contains Nicotine; I can’t seem to see any in the box though 🙂 The sides of the box just contain the title and a link to Smoking Vapour’s website, along with a bar-code on one side. On the bottom of the outer box, it contains all printed specifications and what is included inside. This is above the usual warnings and a ‘scratch and check’ authenticity panel. There is also a batch number stamped onto the box above Smoking Vapour’s info and info to their mionevape social media. The outer box slips off to the inner carton which flips up to open.

It’s really well presented inside the box. On the top, inside of the flip, is a quote by Leonardo da Vinci “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. The bottom of the flip box includes all the kit. There is the main Mi-pod unit, which, having never seen one in the flesh prior to this, was amazed just how tiny it is. You get two refillable pods, which are protected by rubber caps, which are handy and come into use when not using the other filled pod. There is an ‘Accessories’ box and inside that contains the main user manual, a little book covering warnings, a warranty card and a card explaining how to adjust the airflow, along with 2 airflow plugs inside (if you want that tighter draw on the unit). Within the Accessories, there is also a very neat looking coloured charger cable. The cable is short, but I don’t see why it should be any longer just to charge the unit. You do also get a little lanyard-type attachment that can connect to the Mi-Pod, if you want to attach it to a key-ring or similar.

The main unit is tiny, measuring just 51mm x 60mm and the thickness is 13.5mm. This thing will fit most places easily as it’s so small. I’ve been using the Aspire Breeze which I love and didn’t think it could get much stealthier in size…. until this! The paint on the unit is a very nice finish and has no paint peeling off from use over 3 weeks. There is a cut out ‘M’ window on each side of the unit, which shows the E-liquid within the refillable pod once installed, so you can see how much juice you have left easily. The letters SV are etched on one side and ‘Mi-Pod’ etched on the top. The front-side and bottom also has etched writing which looks to be some elvish type writing. I’m guessing it translates to One Vape to Rule them All and Designed by Smoking Vapor (okay, yes, I did Google that). The front-side has the USB charge port above a small button, which is simply 5 clicks to power and 5 clicks to power off. An internal light flashes to signal this. There is no button to press when taking a puff as it’s an automatic powered by draw system. It runs on an internal 950mAh Lithium battery which I’ve found lasts well. If vaping moderately, it has lasted the day and more easily. Charging is also very quick taking just over an hour. Output voltage of the Mi-Pod is 3.0 – 4.2V with a maximum current of 15A. A blue light shows in the window on charge and goes off when fully charged and ready to use.

There is two empty pods that come with the kit. Filling the pods is very easy, by pulling back the rubber bung and filling via the hole on the bottom. The pod slots down into the top of the Mi-Pod, making sure its the right way by matching the bottom of the pod’s contact points to inside the Mi-Pod. If you want a tighter draw without airflow, you can use one of the supplied plugs to put in the side of the refillable pod.

I’m using it without the airflow plug and for the sake of review, have been using both pods, switching them out from time to time. One of the pods has Strawberry Whip NS20 Nicotine salts E-liquid (review coming soon) and a 3mg E-liquid. I thought I’d use higher VG juices to see how well it wicks and also see how well it compares using 20mg Nic salts and a freebase Nicotine 3mg liquid. I’ve been testing and giving it daily use for over 3 weeks and it’s been brilliant. When vaping on the Mi-pod, a blue light shows within the window. You can turn this off if you prefer by holding the power button for 5 seconds. The flavour it gives is brilliant and for a mouth to lung kit, the cloud isn’t too bad at all for what it is. It’s perfect as a stealth setup as it just fits anywhere and vapes so well. I have yet had to buy any more pod’s for it, so the coils seem to last very well and have re-filled the pod’s quite a few times so far. If I was being super fussy and wanting to give any bad points; the only things I could list would be the metallic finish can be a fingerprint magnet. I also found that the mouthpiece on the pod can sometimes get a little warm, not really hot, but warm. These are just little points though and it really isn’t anything much to complain about for what it is. If you are looking for something small to supply that Nic-hit in the day, this is perfect! The clouds are not going to let everyone know you are vaping and it draws nicely, not too tight or too much airflow.

My score: 8.7/10 – A really nice mouth to lung Pod system that is compact, very light, stylish and gives a good vape.

You can pick up a Mi-Pod at Ecigarette Direct, currently at £39.99 and available in Silver, Black, Gold and Rainbow metals. There is free delivery on orders over £20. If you prefer to pop into a shop and are based in the West of England, you can check their nearby stores here. Thanks for reading!